Success Story: The Honeycomb Hub

"We are the Burkett Family: Adam, Abigail, Sebastian (aged 4) and Elliot (aged 2) and on the 22nd of July we moved to Botswana to set up a family centre in Gaborone.

Adam and I met on our Gap Year, in 2002, teaching in Kenya, when we also fell in love with Africa. My younger sister, Phillida, also fell in love on her Gap year in Botswana in 2006 and has now lived in Botswana for the last 8 years with her Motswana husband. Visiting her made us realise the lack of community centres or play areas even in the capital city and so we decided there was an opportunity for us to give back whilst utilising my 11 years’ experience as a teacher and Phillida’s management skills.

Together, we want to create The Honeycomb Hub, a family centre in Gaborone where everyone is welcome and people feel they are not alone. We particularly want to support pregnant women, new parents and growing families who can struggle with the challenges of parenthood and end up feeling isolated and alone. The Honeycomb Hub will provide information and resources on all aspects of parenting, a place where you can develop new knowledge and skills, bond with your child through different play opportunities or simply have a cold drink with other frazzled parents while your children play. Phillida has trained with Basingstoke’s very own Marie Behenna (www.fitmamastudio.com) to become the first FitMama instructor in Southern Africa to allow us to support pregnant women and new mothers with their fitness through and after pregnancy.

One of our first priorities is to strengthen our links with the Downs Syndrome Association in Botswana to offer work experience and job opportunities for young adults with Downs Syndrome in Botswana.

We are really looking forward to making a change both for ourselves, and hopefully in the lives of some of the people we shall meet."

If you would like to know more about their adventure, check out their crowdfunding page below: